STREET ART – See No Evil in Bristol

As a rather large City in close proximity to Cardiff I have visited the City of Bristol on many occasions but have never discovered the true delights of the street art on display…until now!

Having previously visited the amazing work in Stokes Croft and over in Bedminster with the Upfest – I was surprised to find street art of a really high quality almost slap bang in the centre of the city.
Having passed this area quite often it had always appeared to be a constant concrete jungle of delapidated 1970’s ageing buildings, carparks and now defunct offices – nothing that attractive to warrant me investigating them further.
Over the last few years a street art and graffiti festival titled ‘See No Evil‘ has been centred around Nelson Street and the huge concrete canvasses that these buildings provide. Amongst all the grey, deteriorating skyline were murals reaching for the sky and brightening up a really run down part of the city centre.
So a stones throw away from the Church of St John the Baptist and my first discovery – a huge painting by Connor Harrington depicting two people fighting with swords with swathes of colour enriching the piece and also adding to the drama with those running paint effect.
Heading through the painted arches of the church onto Quay Street/Nelson Street itself where I was totally blown away by the scale of everything – in every direction I could see some amazing art awaiting my attention and even more from my camera!
Created by Elmac this huge painting of a woman gracefully holding her baby in her arms amongst the backdrop of lush green trees, glowing spires but rather dull tower blocks.
Heading into Nelson Street and it seems these concrete structures wont be around for much longer and the 2012 See No Evil festival was the last chance for artists from all around the world to decorate them in any and every fashion going.

At this end were alot of large pieces using the huge concrete walls as large canvasses. The few below were by M-City, Nick Walker, Sheone and Tatscru.
It seems the majority of buildings here are awaiting demolition with the diggers already moving in to prepare the area. I think student accommodation is going to be taking over this area shortly.

The total contrast of the strong colours against the bland, tarnished concrete really make a great open air art gallery. Some pieces have survived for a few years since the original See No Evil festival whereas other additions have been made during the last year.
This ‘Sneaky Fox’ by artist Roa strikes a pose and commands it’s position here – whilst everyone else goes about their business. ROA, from Ghent, Belgium has painted his distinct animals on abandoned buildings and warehouses all over the world.
Demolition signs adorn most of the site, scaffolding has been erected and cranes and diggers begin the long task of carefully deconstructing the maze of bridges, walkways and vantage points.
I wasn’t too sure how much of the area was out of bounds due to the construction work but I did manage to get up on the bridge and take a wander around. This was the view of a lot of smaller pieces above street level – which was all looking rather unloved and derelict.
It felt really sad to see the demolition work taking place, with old pieces being ripped down and discarded. One of the buildings used to be the old Magistrates Court where previously artists had been found guilty of illegal graffiti in the area. Oh the irony that they are now legally graffiting the very building! It goes to show how much the general public’s perception can change and appreciate street art and what it can bring to society.
Two large pieces on these buildings are this bright green person wearing a pink dog mask (?) and some familiar stickmen courtesy of Stik. Two stickmen graced this truly dull tower block stretching over quite a distance – I still couldn’t find a decent location in the city to get a better shot of them mind!
Another large striking piece was this hybrid mechanical phoenix from Italy’s Pixel Pancho. The work that has gone into this is truly amazing – just look at the detail and colours! His style has become really diverse that mixes together robotic characters and elements of nature.
And it wouldn’t be an art gallery with someone trying to make a statement and here it’s the two monikers on the bridge walkway ‘Which is this the right way?’ on one side followed by ‘Which is this the wrong way?’ on the other. Very profound! 😉
So literally a whistle stop tour of this block to capture what is left from previous street art festivals and capturing the beginning of the end for some of the buildings before this fantastic open air art gallery is gone forever.

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